How losing a GBA slot will affect DS gaming

The new DSi revision from Nintendo does away with the Game Boy Advance Slot and MTV seems to think that this will have a bigger negative impact than originally expected. Why? Because there can be no more rumble packs and add-ons such as the Guitar Hero fret will no longer work with the new DSi. But we ask is it that much of a big deal?

But DSi owners won’t have a Game Boy Advance slot. What will they lose?

More than you might think…

* Rumble: Nintendo has offered two rumble packs for the DS, one each for the GBA slots on the original DS and the DS Lite. The original was packaged with “Metroid Prime: Pinball.” The device could provided a small jolt (which also elicited an unintentional and annoying buzzing sound). Developers never used this add-on in a key way, offering it as a minor extra affect for games as disparate as “Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time” and “Air Traffic Chaos.”

News Source: MTV

i recon there will be some saught of attachment that will plug into the usb or the sd card port. they would not let it affect gaming imo. if they did release an addon i dont think it would run gba games though.

Its great. They just release Guitar hero which needs the GBA slot, they have another guitar hero coming next year... after the new ds.
So that means in order to play certain games we have to own one of each Ds versions?? Yeah right

LAME...


No GBA slot would mean that I can't use the EZ FLASH V to play Puzzle Fighter II Turbo...


Overall, I'lll stick to my DS Lite!!!


UKES UP:

Originally Posted by Zeus

But we ask is it that much of a big deal?

Yes, it is.

I said it last night, and i will say it again. This DS i sucks. I want my f*ucking GBA slot. I want longer battery life. I DO NOT want a camera. I don't care about the Wiishoping.

I will say that the intergrated browser will be cool, but anyone who bought a R4 and a EZ flash like me will find that completely useless.

right now, with that combo, i can play any DS and GBA game i want. The DS i Shi*ts on that, and doesn't give me anything in return.

Oh, for some reason these trade offs seem to be worth an extra $50 on top of the DS's price.


The ONLY, and I really do mean ONLY thing that will change my mind at this point is if I see the new screens in action, and they compel me to upgrade with their shinys, I might spring for one. But at this point, I'd prefer to buy an original DS at the original $150 price tag. I really expected them to at least make a built in motion sensing and possibly rumble for the DS i.


Ninja edit: Ok, one other thing that would convince me: Homebrew allowing some fancy **** from the SD card. Still not a big deal as I have the R4 though.... Which I can safely assume isn't going to work in the new DS i.

Originally Posted by manufan4eva07

i recon there will be some saught of attachment that will plug into the usb or the sd card port. they would not let it affect gaming imo. if they did release an addon i dont think it would run gba games though.

There is no USB port on the DS (not sure about the DSi but I doubt it will have one)

They could possibly use the SD slot but I'm not entirely sure the SD slot could be used for something like that. But you never know.

They could use the DS Game slot and have a special "cable" attached to a Game like card the goes into the slot. This way addons and games could attatche to that.

Also if they use the same headphone port they could in theory use that for game control.

Why the hell does nintendo think this will compete with every other handheld console out there? What good will a camera be? It may do good in Japan, but here it has NO CHANCE, especially not with the removal of the GBA slot, nice going nintendo, you're not helping anyone here... not even yourselves, when are you going to learn?

Is it a big deal? Not really, to some yes but mostly the select few "1000000 people" who uses the "homebrew" because they don't want to get there carts dirty (you know because they might not be able to ever play again) However if you're one of the people then there shouldn't be a problem because you wont be able to buy the new version of the system. Because you're two cheap to play the version of your games that isn't backed up for fear they might get damage by dust.

It does suck that there wont be a gba slot. However I myself wont miss it I rarely play gba games anymore. You kind of was seeing this coming. Because of the gba losing the gbc backwards in mirco... (mirco didn't sell well because of this But that is also the fault because it had no new features.) It's also pretty much a give in that the new nintendo heldheld when it does come out wont have gba backwards. (not dsi)

The other side losing it is the addons and the select few games that use the addons. While some addons rumble you pretty much can live without. (Does anyone really use it?) While some like Guitar Hero will mostly come out with a new game sometime soon. With some new way of playing.

Camera while some might not see it great at all some others will mostly like girls who do like the nds because it's a big seller same as a cellphone with a camera because they like taking pictures of friends.

Battery Life is one of the sadly worst things about the newest version and which most should be looking at and not the card lost. However still this isn't a problem for some because they use heldhelds like console. (mostly play at home where they can have it plug up)

If your the people who doesn't want the newest version still well you're ds is just as good or get the lite if your still using the older version. Because with some addons thanks to the gba slot you can use four features the newest ds has internet browser, music player, sd card for music,images.

Versions of heldheld of nintendo.

Game Boy (Pocket · Light)
Game Boy Advance (SP · Micro)
Ds (Light · Dsi)

About trade in it isn't nintendo falut trading sucks because of gamestop and ect. One good thing if your don't want the newest version is that the older ones will get alittle cheaper.

Originally Posted by crypysmoker

Its great. They just release Guitar hero which needs the GBA slot, they have another guitar hero coming next year... after the new ds.
So that means in order to play certain games we have to own one of each Ds versions?? Yeah right

Well Nintendo has been keeping third-party out of the loop for awhile and it seem so tbe biting their third-party developers in the butt each time.

Do some research before you type up a novel like this.

Originally Posted by bulletbob

Is it a big deal?

Yes.

Originally Posted by bulletbob

Not really, to some yes but mostly the select few "1000000 people" who uses the "homebrew" because they don't want to get there carts dirty.

This is your opinion and I don't care for it.

Originally Posted by bulletbob

The other side losing it is the addons and the select few games that use the addons.

Select few games!... this is just a partial list.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._Support_games

Looks like a lot more than a "select few" to me.

Originally Posted by bulletbob

While some addons rumble you pretty much can live without.

Again... That's your opinion and I still don't care for it.

Originally Posted by bulletbob

(Does anyone really use it?)

Yes.

Originally Posted by bulletbob

the newest ds has internet browser, music player, sd card for music,images.

People can already do this on there DS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DS_Browser

This device turns the GBA slot into an SD slot for music.
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-...n-70-1krl.html
And this one also playes MPEG4 video.
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-...en-70-xfo.html

If homebrew is your thing...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MoonShell

Not to mention the camera add-on.
http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/07/...do-announ.html

According to recent news the DSi currently does not support mp3 playback, you'll have to convert your music to AAC. What a hassle.

The SD slot is a step backwards in my opinion and the only way to rectify this is to create an SD card that rumbles (good luck with that), a guitar hero accessory that is SD, and a pedometer that is also SD. You would have to buy all that stuff again if you already own it unless Nintendo offered some trade-in replacement plan.

Edit: In my opinion if Nintendo was smart they would make a SD card GBA cartridge that comes with the DSi so that you have both options. They can do this as we have already seen here: http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-...n-70-1krl.html.

Nintendo know what they are doing.

They have ditched the GBA slot for an SD card one so people will download GBA titles from their online store which would be saved on the removable device. A smart move.

SD is a simple storage solution, just like the Wii (although the Wii ought to have a detachable HDD)

*mutters* Nintendo....why the casual market